BATON ROUGE, La. - Stuart Musslewhite went 4-for-4 with a run but it would not be enough as the University of Houston baseball team dropped an 8-2 decision to No. 1 LSU on Sunday in the finale of a non-conference series at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

The junior shortstop rapped out four hits for the third time during his career but the first time in 2004. He was joined in the Cougar offensive highlight reel by Cole Bruce, who batted 2-for-2 with a run and a pair of walks.

LSU (12-2) scored three runs in its first at-bat and never looked back in winning the weekend series. UH rallied in its final at-bat with a pair of runs but would get no closer in falling to 5-9 overall this season.

LSU starter Nate Bumstead improved to 2-0 after allowing only two Cougar runs off nine hits with seven strikeouts in 8.1 innings of work. UH starter Brad Lincoln dropped to 1-1 after giving up five runs off 11 hits with a strikeout in five innings.

The Cougars continue their season at 7 p.m., Tuesday as they play host to No. 14 Texas A&M at Cougar Field. That game can be heard live on KAXF 88.3 FM or over the Internet at www.UHcougars.com. Fans also can follow the action through live stats by clicking on the Gametracker at the bottom of the main page at www.UHCougars.com.

The Tigers jumped out ahead early with three runs in their first at-bat. After leading off with a single, J.C. Holt scored on a Lincoln wild pitch, and Matt Liuzza's single to center field plated Ryan Patterson and Blake Gill for a 3-0 LSU lead.

LSU padded its lead in the sixth inning with three more runs, courtesy of Jon Zeringue's two-run homer to right field and a double play that allowed Derek Hebert to score from third.

In the seventh, Zeringue recorded an RBI-triple and scored on Derek Hebert's infield groundout for the final margin of victory.

The Cougars rallied in the ninth inning, scoring two runs on four hits. After Bruce smashed a double to left center and moved to third on Musslewhite's single to left, Brian Martin laced a single through the right side of the Tiger infield to score Bruce for the first UH run of the day. Rob Johnson then lifted a sacrifice fly into center field to plate Musslewhite for the final score.

Zeringue went 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs and fell just a single short of hitting for the cycle. Matt Liuzza and J.C. Holt each batted 3-for-5 with Liuzza adding a pair of RBIs and Holt scoring once.